The Rainline of Religions

What we witnessed in the many terror attacks in the past that are aimed at civilians only in NY, Istanbul, Florida, Paris, Sydney, Denmark, Madrid, Israel, Africa,?and more, ISIS, radical Jewish "Price Tag", Buddhists terror in Myanmar, and more may seem like a religious war.

But is it?

Picture this: On a chilly winter's day, stand atop the amphitheater at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Before you stretches a breathtaking tableau. Vibrant green grass dotted with vivid winter blossoms in hues of yellow and red. But in a striking contrast, this lively palette swiftly gives way to a myriad of browns, extending to the distant mountains of Jordan. This stark division, known as the "Rain Line," marks where the nurturing touch of freshwater ends and the relentless expanse of the desert commences.

I define the “Rain Line of Religions" into the green and the desert sides.

On the "Green Side" of the "Rainline", religions stand for?spiritual connection between people and the higher and between themselves and others. On the green side, religions nourish communities with kindness, compassion, and empathy. They value life above all and condemn killings and hurt.

On the green side of the "Rainline", religions connect and unite people around common traditions, values, culture, habits, rituals, and prayers. On the green side, religions?are an important place for the social life of their communities: mourning over the dead; celebrating with the living; giving to the poor; supporting the weak; seeding and cultivating hope and belief to enable believers to gain from the powers of community life and common faith.

Even atheists acknowledge the power of prayers to the higher, as much evidence from scientific research shows that people who believe in a God are usually happier than non-believers. Atheists even have an explanation: The Placebo Effect.

On the “Desert Side” of the "Rain-line of Religions", religion is used, abused, and perverted by power-thirsty and greedy people, for self-serving reasons. They pervert the intentions of the holy scriptures to support terrible things in "the name of God". Religion is then used for their material gain, power, and domination over others. Ego-driven they are convinced that only their beliefs, ideas, and values are right. They disqualify all other religions and ways of life as wrong; therefore all the ones not following their faith are sinners and infidels who should be converted, dominated, tortured, and killed. They use out of context some holy scripts to justify their wrongdoing and brainwash others. On the desert side of the rain-line of religions, people tend to be intolerant, aggressive, abusive, ruthless, and unforgiving. They brainwash, manipulate, and incite the masses using fear as a strategy to make others aggressive against an external enemy. They take advantage of?misery, poverty, inequality, ignorance, and injustice to induce hate and fear of others.?

Incitement is a crime! ~ Avi Liran?

The great divide of the "Rain Line of Religions" is not exclusive to?religions. It is a battle between the forces of good and evil in our world since the cradle of humanity. It is a war between the tolerant and moderate silent majority and the warmongers, militant radicals, and power-thirsty manipulators.

Atheists may claim that religions are responsible for mass killings in the world, however, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hideki Tojo, Kim Il Sung, King Leopold II, Enver Pasha,?and other leaders responsible for the death of millions were not at all religious. Norwegian right-wing extremist perpetrator Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 innocents in 2012 did not do it in the name of God. Their behavior and ideologies were manifestations of the ugliness, fallibility, and intolerance of human nature.

The merciful to the cruel ends up cruel to the merciful.” ~ Hazal -Hebrew Sages

History has shown that when the tolerant majority (you and me) turns a blind eye to the atrocities of cruel, radical movements like Nazism, humanity pays a big?price.?A problem in Syria is a problem for the rest of the world.?

Excommunicate Intolerants!

Free and tolerant people of all faiths and atheists alike have to unite and move from apathy to active rejection of the intolerants by standing firm against tyranny and inhumanity. Each religion has to excommunicate its own radicals. Religious leaders must define and effectively communicate their religion’s "Rainline" for their own community.

In every prayer house, the Priests, the Rabbis, the Imams, Muftis, and Ayatollahs have the responsibility and obligation to stand firm against terrorism and radicalism. The biggest danger of not doing that is they risk confusing and alienating not only the poor and the uneducated among their followers but also the angry and impressionable young generation, inadvertently encouraging defection to the Desert Side of their religious Rainline. A massive, immediate, and compelling spiritual direction is required to educate the masses to stay on the Green Side of the "Rainline of Religions".

Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses or ifs or buts." ~ Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

In 2010, scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri issued a Fatwa (Islamic decree) on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings in a book of more than 500 pages. The book demonstrates, from the Quran and Sunnah, that terrorism and suicide bombings are unjust and evil, and thus un-Islamic.

This fatwa is a direct refutation of the ideology of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It is one of the most extensive Islamic anti-terrorism rulings, an absolute condemnation of terrorism without any excuses or pretexts. It goes further than ever and declares that terrorism is kuffār (disbeliever infidel) under Islamic law. The challenges of the spiritual leadership of Islam are how to enforce this Fatwa by the top Muslim leadership in every community; how to effectively communicate and quickly propagate the messages against abusing and perverting the holy verses into destructive actions that cast a shadow over the majority of peace-loving fellow believers.

A fool may throw into a well a stone which a hundred wise men cannot pull out."

The three main concerns for Islam today are:

• The fast-growing numbers of supporters of radical, violent ideologies like religious terrorists and ISIS. As the Muslim faith today has 1.6 billion followers if we assume that 1% support these radical ideologies, then that is 16 million people;
• The apathy and defensiveness of the peaceful majority to refrain from actively condemning and taking appropriate actions against these radicals;
• The growing fear and hate that feeds the rise of ugly fascism and violent anti-religion sentiments.

Protests Against Terror Should Have Taken Place In Muslim Countries, Not Paris ~ Saudi Columnist

Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, the former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, wrote in his column in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat:

"Protests against the recent terrorist attacks in France should have been held in Muslim capitals rather than Paris because, in this case, it is Muslims who are involved in this crisis and stand accused... The story of extremism begins in Muslim societies, and it is with their support and silence that extremism has grown into terrorism that is harming people. It is of no value that the French people, who are the victims here, take to the streets... What is required here is for Muslim communities to disown the Paris crime and Islamic extremism in general." (Translation by Memri.)

Racial & Religious Harmony: The Singapore Example

Every 21st of July, Singapore celebrates Racial Harmony Day to commemorate the 1964 Race Riots, which took place on 21 July 1964. In November 1990, the Parliament of Singapore passed The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, with the aim of maintaining religious harmony and ensuring that religion is not exploited for any political or subversive purpose in Singapore.

Multi-Cultural Singapore takes social cohesion and racial harmony very seriously. In 2013, 74.2% of residents were of Chinese descent; 13.3% Malay; 9.1% Indian; and Eurasians and other groups formed 3.3% of the population. It is a pleasant cocktail of different ethnicities, religions, and cultures, all co-existing peacefully, respectfully, and harmoniously.

One of Singapore’s elements of national pride is the public housing program. Over 80% of Singapore's resident population live in homes built by this program and about 90% of these resident households own their flats. To prevent the formation of racial enclaves, Singapore has designed, from the early days, an Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) to ensure a balanced ethnic mix among the various communities living in public housing estates. The EIP was implemented to promote racial integration and harmony.

Singapore is celebrating only its 50th year as a republic this year. Yet the world can learn the following from this relatively young and successful, small red dot on the map:

• Reinforce and celebrate the values of social harmony, respect, and tolerance. These are taught to young Singaporeans as early as kindergarten and are part of the educational curriculum, and thus, the national psyche;
• Set boundaries with legislation and enforcement to prevent racial discord and to deal with any beginnings of such issues swiftly;
• Take care of the economy; create jobs and housing opportunities for all racial groups. One of the proven ways to prevent social unrest is the ability to make a decent living and keep dignity.
• Prevent the formation of enclaves that encourage differences and silos among racial groups.

The only war worthy of winning is the one to reclaim the "Desert Side" of the "Religion Rain Line": unite against terror and tyrants, AND invest in education, better employment opportunities for the poor, and a legislation that promotes and enforces good social harmony.” - Avi Liran

The message in the first cartoon is thought-provoking. Should freedom of speech be unlimited? Where is the "Rain Line of Freedom of Speech"? Don't we have boundaries? Will we allow racists, antisemitic, Holocaust deniers, and terrorists to spread their venom? When is it tasteless and offensive? Is freedom of speech a value without checks and balances? Who will set the balances?

At the same time as we condemn violence and terror, we have to be careful to allow our fears to unleash the demons of racism. While we condemn terror and violence, we have to protect our multicultural world to live in harmony.

I personally feel that we need to combine the wisdom of two political giants.

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival." ~ Winston Churchill

"I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days." ~ Nelson Mandela

Here is a very powerful anti-racist short film "Tzafar" by Nancy Spetsioti that demonstrates the importance of tolerance:

We also need to ask the question, why did all the world leaders go to Paris and ignore deadlier incidents in other continents? In the Philippines, 50 policemen were killed, and in Africa hundreds in the same month. The world seems to take action selectively.

As we reflect on recent events, where do we want to stand? Where do YOU want and choose to stand? I strongly advocate that we insist and ensure that we keep our religions on the Green Side of the Rain Line. Let’s learn from Singapore on how to enforce that, and educate people on why that is imperative more than ever today. We can no longer afford to be apathetic bystanders. It is the duty of all of us to fight the desert by irrigating and cultivating the expansion of the green side of the "Religion Rain Line."

You might like my other blog posts:?

• Go ‘Faceless’ to De-stress in China
• 18 Minutes Stand Up Meetings
• A Tale of Two Donkeys

Working globally from Singapore,?Avi Liran?(Economist, MBA) is the Chief Delight Officer of?www.deliveringdelight.com?. He is a leading original consultant on how to cultivate a delightful culture (DC) that creates a Delightful Employee Experience (DEX) which empowers a Delightful Customer Experience (DCX).

Avi consults, trains and coaches leaders and manager from Fortune 500 companies how to tap into their inner delight and lead with value so they can walk the talk to drive results. Organisations who work with Avi experience higher engagement, retention,?creativity, and productivity while having so much more fun and camaraderie.

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